12vretrofan Posted December 9, 2011 Hello all! It is 12vretrofan again. I am just wondering how people balance Lego trains and life? How do you have time to set-up and have fun with your trains while balancing family, a job, a band, and many other things? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob Klingberg Posted December 9, 2011 Hello all! It is 12vretrofan again. I am just wondering how people balance Lego trains and life? How do you have time to set-up and have fun with your trains while balancing family, a job, a band, and many other things? Easy: CAFFEINE! Seriously, I find it really helps to have the kids share my interest and passion, have them help me build, and most importantly, let them play with the extremely expensive and fragile creations we build! I have young kids (youngest is 4) so this is something that still makes me nervous. Letting my 4-year-old tinker with (and occasionally, destroy) the train and City models we build is hair-raising at times, but I find it also lets them build their own relationship with the models: they make up entire story lines, songs, etc. while playing. This makes them more excited to play with me again in the future, and the models can always be rebuilt. It is a balacing act, no doubt, but (usually) I think I manage to strike a fair balance. And yes, there is also plenty of coffee involved. --Rob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted December 9, 2011 (edited) My answer.....WINE. Oh, yeah and I also work on all my models while the wife is at work and the kid is at school. Now thinking about it, I need to make some new Aussie and Danish rolling stock....don't worry I have my reasons....yes, it's called insanity. Edited December 9, 2011 by lightningtiger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Glascott Posted December 9, 2011 By telling the wife it keeps me out of other mischief...... I'm lucky enough to have very flexible hours, I'm a youth worker, and work from home, so any down time I have during the day is easily filled - my layout is in the room next to my office! Given my hours involve evenings, time when my LPO (Lego Permission Officer) is home and I'm not at work is often for us, so flexible hours which include a day off in the week while she's out at work really help! Oh, and no kids.... Andy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PenetratorNL Posted December 9, 2011 at the moment i have very little time, so my currently 2 models (with one half way finished) are standing proudly in the book-case, and the rest of my lego (when cleaned up) is upstairs, only when i build, the lego comes downstairs, my wife doesnt really care about lego, but thinks the models are nice. My kid loves my 2 trains and yells at them very often (he is almost 2), so for Sinterklaas (a dutch holiday on December 5th) he got a DUPLO train, that his grandfather and i (with lots of fun) build, complete with track and buildings.. and how long we where busy with building (without manual), how quickly my kid destroyed the whole track, buildings, train and played the rest of the evening with the underbody of the train :p hahaha. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Guy Bri Posted December 10, 2011 I, too have a flexible work schedule. I work after hours and my college is only an hour bus ride away, during the day. I don't have children, yet, but, do see my family and friends many times a week. I'd like to spend more time building but, only spend a couple hours a week with them. Life right now is a little hectic but, hopefully once things settle down I can enjoy my few hobbies Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kyphur Posted December 10, 2011 For me I honestly don't do a lot outside of the house except Scuba Diving and that has a short season (4 peak months) and the wife works 3rd shift so I get time in the evening after the kids are in bed and the wife is leaving for work. Sometimes when the wife is napping I'll take the little guy downstairs to my LEGO area and let him sit playing with his while I'm doing my thing. A lot of Design tweaking is done using MLCad at work when I need to take a break from all of the Coding and Software design stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eliminator Posted December 10, 2011 For me I honestly don't do a lot outside of the house except Scuba Diving and that has a short season (4 peak months) and the wife works 3rd shift so I get time in the evening after the kids are in bed and the wife is leaving for work. I'm also a scuba diver and since I've moved away from the west coast last year, my dive season is pretty much limited to summer months nowadays. Where I live currently is pretty cold in the winter, so I spend alot of time indoors. Lego is a great way to spend my free time. Current temperature here is -10 degrees Celsius (14 Fahrenheit) and that's considered "warm" for this time of year. Not looking forward to sunny and -30..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Train 12 Volts Posted December 10, 2011 I don't sleep Seriously when I'm start a new train project Lego keeps me awake Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ashi Valkoinen Posted December 10, 2011 I'll will soon move to a "new" houe with my girlfriend. There will be a room only for LEGO layout. :) Any questions? And she's made her first LEGO locomotive, the MÁV M47: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/safiati/exhibitions/childrensworld/dsc08508.jpg (I do not build diesel engines, only electric.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
helos Posted December 10, 2011 I immediately read this post searching for a trick of yours! To me balancing Lego trains and life is a nightmare! Each piece of the day is fitted into another like a big Lego set without microspace so I have to move Lego work during the night . The only two tricks I use are watchhing similar solutions I'm looking for from other modellers and a box with some pieces of my new project and some key-pieces – I bring the box with me and when a short while occurs I grab the chance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZueriHB Posted December 10, 2011 I just mix it. As I and my girlfriend both work irregular hours, and all my Lego trains are at here place, it somehow works. Sometimes we play together on the layout, but at the moment, we're sorting old boxes full of bricks and BrickLink orders for our current projects. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bootz Posted December 10, 2011 I don't have any trains yet but I like the topic so... I work 7:30-5 every week day, so my Lego time is limited to after work and weekends. The problem with that is that time is also the only time I get with my girlfriend. We don't officially live together(we're still young, I'm only 20) but we spend basically all our free time together. Now that she is working too I have more time to myself to build without worrying about taking time away from her, but I do occasionally get her mad by getting lost in my legos while I'm supposed to be hanging out with her. Occasionally she will sit down and help me build. The bank I'm working on was partly built by her and she wants to help rebuild our house when I get around to it. I find what's more prohibitive than time is money. Making only $9.50 and hour makes it difficult to justify buying the more expensive sets that I want. $150 for a modular is a real commitment when its half of your weekly salary. But I've always been a bit of an impulse buyer so I still manage to get some of the sets I want. Collecting different themes is nearly impossible for me though. I would love to expand my Star Wars collection further but I'm more concerned with building the lego city I always wanted. When I eventually have children I'd obviously like to get them interested in Legos. They brought me so much joy as a child and even now, I want my kids to experience them too. I have a younger brother who likes legos and wants me to include his building in my town layout, but he has a bit of a stealing problem when it comes to my Legos so I'm afraid to give him too much freedom with MY legos. You develop an emotional connection to them and I hate to see pieces go missing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
harnbak Posted December 11, 2011 Planning and building is the best part of Lego: which pieces do I need and how to make the most inventive layout. I easily get carried away building bigger and better than what is realistic with the limiting factor being space: there is not enough for ordered brick storage and never even close to enough for creating a decent layout. Layouts can only be in my living room, so my very few (bi-annual) layouts are around for 2-3 days only... Luckily my daughters participate each time. They are very social so I do my best to involve them, but they will not play for hours. That level of enthusiasm also goes for my better half: as long I do not isolate myself (and do not spend too much money), she tolerates my hobby. She know it makes me more complete when I can realise my creativity and I love her for that! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
